The present invention relates to equipment that can be readily used in escaping from a high rise building, i.e. one in excess of twenty stories high, when the usual stairways and elevator systems are not available due to some emergency situation. More specifically, it relates to the equipment utilized and also the method of using the equipment to expeditiously evacuate a building under adverse conditions. There are several situations where a person on the upper floors, for example, 30th floor, could become trapped at that level due to a fire, bomb, explosion or other condition where the elevators and the stairways are not available due to the presence of smoke, fire or possibly hostile persons. In addition, the present invention also relates to the method of using the equipment to allow for successful evacuation of someone trapped at that level under these conditions. The usefulness of this invention has been highlighted by the tragic events of Sep. 11, 2001 when the terrorists took control of a plurality of aircraft and flew them into the Twin Towers of New York City. It can readily be seen that provision of the Twin Towers with equipment such as disclosed herein would have resulted in the saving of many lives.